I need some help and advice from my fellow gardeners. I have always had the occasional rabbit in the garden, but nothing too damaging. This year, I have a rabbit infestation and he or she is eating everything in sight. I wasn't sure who the culprit was, but then I saw the rabbit shamelessly eating my new plants in broad daylight. From what I've read, it seems that the options are guns (not practical in the suburbs), fences, traps (my husband's weekend assignment), dogs/cats (not an option right now), and repellents (I am currently spraying both commercial and home-made repellents). Some gardeners on GardenWeb also suggested spreading human hair, sprinkling pepper, and planting plants they do not like, such as nepeta (catmint). Does anyone have insight into which of these or additional suggestions will work?
Update April 25, 2008: May Dreams Gardens has a lot of experience with rabbits and suggests sprinkling cayenne pepper on the plants that need protection.
Update May 10, 2008: Thank you all for the suggestions--some of them are working. First, I sprinkled the cayenne pepper on the most susceptible plants and the rabbits are staying away from them. Second, I captured my first rabbit in a rabbit trap baited with one of their favorite foods--clover.
Related posts: Keeping Groundhogs Out of the Garden, Keeping Deer Out of the Garden
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Advice Wanted: How to Keep Rabbits Out of the Garden
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Blogflux
8 comments:
I went with a fence last year and it worked very well. Of course, my garden was already enclosed on three sides and now I have to step over the fence whenever I go into the garden, which is a drawback.
No rabbit advice but plenty of squirrel tips. I quit planting a vegetable garden and voila, no problem with rabbits ;) I tried those plastic deer fence material and they managed to find the seams or scooted under the fence. A baby got caught in the one of the rents in the fencing material and got mangled pretty badly in trying to free itself so I just took down the fence. The vegetables I grew were pitiful anyway.
Even though rabbits and deer are nice animals - they are not nice inside a garden! I'm afraid i don't have any advice, but I hope you get rid of the rabbits soon.
/Katarina
I was at the nursery while Walter Reeves(ATL garden guy) was talking about a product 'Liquid Fence' all natual organic www.pike-pick.com
He said it works. I don't think he gets any kick back. Best of luck.
Heather
Rabbit stew would seem to be a viable option.
The cayenne pepper does work for me, or seems to. I buy great big jars of it at the local Sam's Club.
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
I suggest sticking with the repellent method. We’ve been using Havahart’s DeFence and it’s the best one we tried. More powerful than the other brands. Plus, it’s natural and organic so we feel good about using it.
Here's the spray I'm referring to:
http://www.havahart.com/store/animal-repellents/5600
What about this non lethal traps? Anybody try to use it?
Post a Comment